Who owns it?

by Jack

Sept 02, 2026

An introduction to ‘RACI’

When something important doesn’t get done, ask one question: Who owned it?

If the answer is “Sales and Operations,” “the leadership team,” or three different people’s names, you may have found the problem.

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Shared involvement is healthy. Shared accountability often isn’t.

Multiple people can contribute to an outcome, but when multiple people are accountable for the same result, you run the risk of no one truly owning it. Simple frameworks can establish clarity around who owns what and this clarity can drive results. Enter the concept of Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, & Informed (RACI). In this article we’ll review the Sales Process.

Responsible

It is a Sales Representative’s responsibility to execute the sales process and convert qualified opportunities into customers. Customer acquisition [under the appropriate scope / pricing / service level commitments] is the name of the game. Sales Representatives should have clearly defined KPIs that measure their performance throughout the sales process.

Accountable

If the Sales Representatives don’t produce, the Sales Manager is ultimately accountable for the team’s performance. They may participate directly in the sales process, but their primary responsibility is driving the productivity and performance of the individuals on their team. Their success is measured by the success of their people.

Consulted

The Marketing Manager supports the sales process through positioning, messaging, demand generation, competitive intelligence, sales enablement, and inbound leads. Their expertise can improve the effectiveness of the sales team, but they don’t own the sales result.

Informed

The Operations Manager is informed about Sales performance. Operations needs visibility into sales performance and the pipeline to proactively plan staffing, capacity, resources, and execution against future customer commitments. They need visibility into the outcome, but they don’t own it. RACI creates cross-functional visibility and better planning.

What this means for your business

High performing businesses execute this RACI framework for every high value process where ambiguity creates economic consequences. The example shared here is a simple one and depending on what process you’re reviewing the exercise can increase in complexity. Nonetheless, the core concept remains.

Pick the five most important outcomes in your business this quarter. For each one, ask your leadership team independently: “Who is accountable for this result?”

If you get different answers, you’ve identified an execution risk.

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